There
are two equally valid takes on the evening as a whole: to
see it as a celebration of the finest string playing talent
emerging from the Royal College of Music, or to see it as
the ‘Competition of Competitions’, as each player has been
awarded one or more prizes in internal competitions. The evening
culminated in one being announced String Player of the Year,
of which more later. Personally though, I was glad the celebratory
spirit outweighed the merely competitive, as all demonstrated
fine qualities and undoubtedly had contributions to make.The breadth of instruments and repertoire also kept
everyone on their toes.

Tamsin
Waley-Cohen (b. 1986, UK) opened
proceedings audaciously with an assuredly virtuosic account
of the Tempo di Ciaconna from Bartok’s solo sonata.
By turns she realised meditative, romantic and steely aspects
of the work and moved between them with ease. The Saint-Saens
proved an exhibition of technique and style, as only one might
expect with a work arranged by Ysaye
to showcase his own not insubstantial talent. Her tone, though
not as forthright as others, was full and ringing nonetheless.
A pity that the piano was a touch plodding in accompaniment
to the Saint-Saens.

Lucy
Scotchmer (UK), ably accompanied
by father Stephen, brought an apt lyrical romanticism to the
Grieg, though she came across with
greater ease in the higher range of her instrument. The contrast
made by the Dutilleux was great
indeed – strength, of interpretation as well as of tone, was
matched by an at times almost forced intensity for which I
was rather unprepared. The melodious negotiation of often
difficult musical lines and the guitar-like sonorities found
in the first strophe (Un pocoindeciso) further added to the impression made in this challenging
music.

Guitarist
Anton Petrov (b. 1983, Russia)transported us on a solo voyage to Spain, and played with great feeling
for the idiom of both works. He alone in the entire evening
demonstrated that an intimate performance can be an enthralling
one. The Rodrigo was distinguished by an almost bell-like
clarity to the introduction and the disarming simplicity of
the dance itself, cleanly voiced. Whilst for some Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s
Capriccio Diabolico might appear lacking in outgoing diabolicism, the performance was finely graded to make the
most of the internal contrasts.

The
evening’s second violinist DunjaLavrova (b. 1985, Russia) revealed
a very different tone and technique, in contrast to Waley-Cohen, being much brighter and indeed rather ‘in yer face’. Far from being off-putting though this proved an
exciting experience and true to form for Russian violinists.
The Brahms was richly nuanced, showing that beneath the blaze
of singing lines there were sub-layers of texture and shading
to be revealed. By contrast the Ysaye sonata was the embodiment of bravura playing with a
core of steel in the tone.Greatly impressive, in short.

Francis
Kefford (Australia) lent playing
of technical fluency to two under-acknowledged works, but
I could not help feeling that the instrument itself was not
best suited to them. The Enescu
positively leapt to life when pushed to the top register,
but seemed to have a hole where the mid register might have
been before showing a nicely woody bass. The Vaughan Williams
captured some of the work’s elegiac qualities although with
wiry tone at times that detracted a little.

Zhengyi
Yang (China) demonstrated the range of the double bass and
made a cogent case for its solo role. With musical phrasing
the Bottesini played warmly to the
instrument’s upper range, and rather unexpectedly the cadenza
all but avoided the anticipated lower range. Gliere,
also one to deliver the unexpected, pushed the instrument
out of normal territory into prestissimo
nimbly articulated passages that were brought off with an
almost jazz-like inflection at times.

VladHirlav-Maistorovici (b. 1985, Romania)
is a no holes barred violinist. His technical assuredness
is balanced by interpretive willingness to push boundaries
that can, and often does, make sparks fly. Szymanowski and Ravel offered near ideal vehicles for him
to show this. As was commented afterwards by the adjudicator,
it might have been Paganini himself
playing the Szymanowski, so much
did both the Italian and Polish elements come through.Ravel’sTzigane was dispatched all the instinctiveness
of a gypsy fiddler, and all the technique of a virtuoso. Both
performances were also notable for producing the only genuine
duo partnerships of the evening, Ellena Hale’s accompaniments being sensitive and telling.

I
mentioned the competition element earlier. Cellist Natalie
Clein adjudicated, which made me
fear she might just hand it to Lucy Scotchmer. In the end Tamsin Waley-Cohen
was named Royal College of Music String Player of the Year,
for her performance of the Bartok, according to Clein.
The right decision? Well, I am sure each faction of parents
and friends would have something to say about that. However,
if pushed – and given the standard I’m glad I wasn’t! – I
would have gone for DunjaLavrova or VladHirlav-Maistorovici. They simply headed an extremely strong
field.